I absolutely abhor this shit. It is my archillies heel, so to speak. And I know enough about it to have both an impassioned viewed and an educated view.

Heres my beef:

1.”A Northland man high on methamphetamine raped a 3-year-old girl.” –
What, as opposed to a man whose not high on meth?
The proclivity to rape a child is already present. Meth is not the reason; meth is not the excuse. Our ‘systems’ need to stop using it as a reason and an excuse.
2. “His offending only came to light after a doctor confirmed the young child had contracted a sexually transmitted disease.”
What, because no-one noticed that a 3-year-old had been raped otherwise? It would have been/should have been quite noticeable! You don’t get to penetrate a small child and not have some type of outward damage. So this child was checked for damage and STIs? That in itself is traumatic.
3. “The man was invited to stay in the girl’s home but repaid the family’s kindness by raping the girl, Judge Duncan Harvey said.”
Little lesson I live by – Vet the people you invite into your home, especially if you have children. Thats not to say that the family was ignorant; but rule of thumb; I’d rather be unkind than have to kill you for hurting my child.
4. “He was sentenced to nine years and nine months’ jail and given a minimum non-parole period of five years.”
This pathetic. But this is The Crowns fault. Legislation is what it is. A judge can’t make a random decision to lock someone up for a trillion years just because what they did was horrible. Legislation needs to change for sentencing to change. I believe in capital punishment for these types of fuckers; but we don’t do that in New Zealand anymore. For that to change, legislation must change.
5. “In a pre-sentence report the man said he had been “amped up on meth and couldn’t remember anything” when he raped the girl.”
Thats is a typical pedophile excuse. Its not an excuse we should even be listening to anymore, let alone putting in any official report.
6. “Given her age there was nothing she could have possibly done to resist you. You raped this little girl when you knew you had an STD and you just didn’t care,” Judge Harvey said.”
But raping without an STI is ok? Really, what are we saying here?

How we report and how we notify and how we sentence says more about us, as in our Country’s, inability to operate effectively in regards to this type of crime. We like to excuse, be it ever so slightly, a perpetrators actions. Whether that is in our wording, or the sentencing….and we disregard a victim. Whether its because we can’t wrap our heads around the perpetrators sickness or it makes us feel uncomfortable. It is really beside the point. His actions are his. He has the sickness. The child was the recipient of his sickness.

How in the world did we come to believe that this type of behaviour is alright? We can all do a little haka about it, and say we don’t think its OK … but we all allow it in one way or another. Whether that be by not speaking out about old school offenders and offences … people that appear inappropriate but no-one wants to say anything… family members that do this shit on a regular basis, but again, no-one wants to say anything. We all allow it to happen.

Aside from legislation changing, our view on the right a child has to safety, also has to change. Dramatically.
Our view on what we do with perpetrators also needs to change. Dramatically.

This little darling is going to need a shitload of love and support and medical care…as is her family.

His sickness was already there … and this little darling was an opportunity.